According to an OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) study from 2022, Germany has a “healthy staying rate” for students, as 45 percent of international students who came to Germany on a student visa in 2010, were still in Germany 10 years later.
This enables them to have covered the cost of their education covered by then, the study finds.
The study calculated that the cost of educating students is covered by their taxes and social security contributions if 40 percent of them stay for three years to work after their studies have finished.
It indicates that the 79,000 international students who began their studies at German universities in 2022 are projected to generate an impressive lifetime net surplus of €15.5 billion (£13.4 billion) through taxes and social security payments. This figure far outweighs the benefits they are expected to claim throughout their lives.
Foreign students provide major economic boost to Germany, study reveals
A recently published report by the German Economic Institute (IW) has shed light on the key contributions to the country’s fiscal and industrial landscape.
The report indicates that Germany’s economy continues to benefit substantially from its growing population of international students, many of whom receive their education at no cost due to the nation’s tuition-free higher education system.
Joybrato Mukherjee, president of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), who commissioned the study, said that the findings showed that “international students are an asset to our country in many ways, academically of course, but also economically.”
Germany’s international student population continues to make remarkable contributions to the nation’s economy, according to IW, which revealed that foreign students not only inject billions of euros into the economy but also serve as crucial drivers of sustained economic growth.
Additionally, the report underscores the proactive measures taken by German industries to attract international talent, recognising the immense value foreign students bring in terms of strengthening the workforce and supporting fiscal resilience.
This mutually beneficial relationship underscores how Germany’s tuition-free higher education system continues to foster opportunities for international talent, while also fortifying the nation’s economic foundation.
An international student from an African country remarked to DW, a German media organisation, that the country offers numerous advantages to international students.
He said, “My first option was English-speaking countries, but it’s very, very expensive. Germany was the most affordable option.”
“Most academic institutions in Germany don’t charge tuition fees, even for foreign students. Germany may have established free higher education out of a concern for social justice many decades ago, but it is now functioning as an incentive to attract skilled labour into the country”.
